Anyone who takes it upon himself, on his private authority, to break a bad law, thereby authorizes everyone else to break the good ones.
DENIS DIDEROTWhen we know to read our own hearts, we acquire wisdom of the heartsof others.
More Denis Diderot Quotes
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What is a monster? A being whose survival is incompatible with the existing order.
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Only passions, and great passions, can raise the soul to great things. Without them there is no sublimity, either in morals or in creativity. Art returns to infancy, and virtue becomes small-minded.
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Are we not madder than those first inhabitants of the plain of Sennar? We know that the distance separating the earth from the sky is infinite, and yet we do not stop building our tower.
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There is only one duty; that is to be happy.
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When we know to read our own hearts, we acquire wisdom of the heartsof others.
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There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.
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There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.
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The infant runs toward it with its eyes closed, the adult is stationary, the old man approaches it with his back turned.
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If there are one hundred thousand damned souls for one saved soul, the devil has always the advantage without having given up his son to death.
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In any country where talent and virtue produce no advancement, money will be the national god. Its inhabitants will either have to possess money or make others believe that they do. Wealth will be the highest virtue, poverty the greatest vice.
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The general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius if it were allowed freedom of action.
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There is only one virtue, justice; only one duty, to be happy; only one corollary, not to overvalue life and not to fear death.
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If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.
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Only the bad man is alone.
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Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.
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Integrity is the evidence of all civil virtues.
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Superstition is more injurious to God than atheism.
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I discuss with myself questions of politics, love, taste, or philosophy. I let my mind rove wantonly, give it free rein to followany idea, wise or mad that may present itself. My ideas are my harlots.
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He whom we call a gentleman is no longer the man of Nature.
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Every man has his dignity. I’m willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.
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A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very advanced.
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The best mannered people make the most absurd lovers.
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It has been said that love robs those who have it of their wit, and gives it to those who have none.
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We swallow with one gulp the lie that flatters us, and drink drop by drop the truth which is bitter to us.
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First move me, astonish me, break my heart, let me tremble, weep, stare, be enraged-only then regale my eyes.
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Instinct guides the animal better than the man. In the animal it is pure, in man it is led astray by his reason and intelligence.
DENIS DIDEROT